Dan Smith, also known as ‘The Cowboy’ in poker circles, once again proved he knows how to rustle the best poker players in the world as he claimed an epic second Triton Poker Series title in Jeju. Beating David Coleman heads-up, Smith took the title at a final table where over $1.25 million was won in bounties alone on the South Korean Island province.

Punsri Can’t Repeat the Trick

In the thrilling 108-entry No Limit Hold’em Turbo Bounty Quattro tournament where $15,000 out of every $50,000 buy-in went into the bounty prizepool, only the top 17 players were paid. The unlucky player to miss out on any money at all actually came in 27^th place, where Ognyan Dimov was busted by Shyngis Satubayev to miss out on the mandatory ‘consolation’ bounties of $60,000 that were awarded to everyone from 27^th to 18^th place.

Out in 18^th on the money bubble was Dominykas Mikolaitis, who lost to Punnat Punsri, who won over $2 million in his own second Triton Poker Series win at the weekend. Punsri’s was dominant against Mikolaitis’ and that sent the field down to 17 money places. Players who cashed early in those places included the aforementioned Shyngis Satubayev, who came 15^th for $242,300 – including $180,000 in bounties – and Lucas Greenwood who cashed in 12^th for $68,000 without any bounties at all.

Bounties weren’t everything, but they were big. The first player to fall at the nine-handed final table was Damir Zhugralin from Kazakhstan who earned $94,500 for that positional exit and $120,000 in bounties won until that point. By comparison, the eighth-place finisher Tom Heung from China only won $126,000 for his position and $60,000 for a single bounty won along the way, meaning he cashed for less than Zhugralin.

Tom Dwan Downed Late

Into the final seven places, every single decision had an effect not just on the hand in question, but the table in general. Webster Lim from Malaysia lost out in seventh for total winnings of $288,000 when his pocket aces lost to David Coleman’s pocket deuces when another deuce landed post-flop. The remaining ground floor of Lim’s chip tower disappeared soon after and it was a six-handed race to the title.

Punsri had been hoping for a second title within a week but even though the Triton series had been kinder than any other to the Thai player, ‘the cards didn’t care’. He was all-in with but lost to Coleman’s as the American, one of four left from the five players, claimed another victim, Punsri going home with $460,000 in total.

Punsri’s winnings were actually bigger than anyone’s other than the final two. German player Sirhat Hissou busted in fifth for $399,000 including bounties as his unluckily lost to Smith’s , The Cowboy taking a shot and hitting the bullseye, finding a flush to reduce the field to an all-American foursome.

The crucial scalp was claimed next, again by Smith. On a board with three diamonds, Tom Dwan got his chips in with a slight lead over Smith, holding . It was no good, however, as Smith had , a marginally better flush that all but sunk Dwan’s chances. Earlier this week, the poker world reacted with surprise as Dwan was announced as the latest ACR Team Pro, but results like this certainly help raise his profile as well as provide six-figure scores that should end debt discussions at least for some time. Losing his last two bigs to Coleman, Dwan headed home with $346,000 in fourth place.

Smith Slays Coleman Heads-Up

“Unless you’re super deep, there’s no getting away from it.”

Three-handed, Seth Davies was the man to lose out on the final battle for the beautiful Triton trophy. All-in when short with , Davies was crushed by Smith’s and that sent him home with winnings amounting to $418,000.

With twice as many chips than Coleman, Smith had the whip hand and all the chips were in quickly, Coleman’s needing help against Smith’s . The help never came, and Smith had sealed the deal, Coleman content with $942,900 as runner-up, with Smith winning over $1.2 million. After the event, Smith was delighted to have sealed victory, adding how cemented he felt that Triton events now were in many high rollers’ schedules.

“This one was in my calendar,” he said. “[I’m] always excited to play Tritons. It was a turbo, so it wasn’t like the spots were super intricate.”

The pivotal pot when play was four-handed went the way of ‘The Cowboy’ and left another poker hero, new Americas Cardroom Pro Tom Dwan – shot down.

“Me and Tom [Dwan] were one and two in chips, in small and big blind and we both had flushes – unless you’re super deep, there’s no getting away from it.”

No-one got away from Smith in Jeju and adding it to his 2023 title in Monte Carlo on the Triton stop there last year, The Cowboy now has two gold creations in his trophy room. It surely won’t be long before they have more company on the mantel.

With thanks to Triton Poker Series, partner of PokerStake, and award-winning photographer Joe Giron for images.